India opener Rohit Sharma had hanged up his boots from the T20I format back in June 2024. The announcement had come right after India clinched the T20 World Cup in Barbados.

Following the title win, Virat Kohli first called time on his T20I career and Rohit followed him with a similar decision. The next day Ravindra Jadeja also stepped away from the shortest format, and this saw three veterans of the game leaving massive void in the Indian team.

Nearly 11 months later, Rohit Sharma spoke his heart out as he reflected on his T20I retirement call.

"Had we not won the T20 World Cup, I would have announced my retirement anyway because I had tried enough. It is (was) not fair for me to continue. You have to give chances to others. But after winning, you feel that you still have it in you; you are playing well, and you have given the result as well, so why not? Why not continue?" Rohit told journalist Vimal Kumar on latter's YouTube channel.

"Because this place that you have earned, by no means came to you just like that. You worked really hard for it. I know what all I have done in my life and all the things I have gone through to get this. So I have an idea of all these things. So why do you want to leave? If you are batting well, giving results, then why?" he added.

While announcing his T20I retirement back in 2024, Rohit had said, "This was my last game as well. No better time to say goodbye. I wanted this (trophy) badly. It's very hard to put in words."

"This what I wanted and it happened. I was very desperate for this in my life. Happy that we crossed the line this time," he had added.

Rohit Sharma ended his T20I career as the format's highest scorer, amassing 4231 runs in 159 matches. He also holds the record for the most centuries in T20Is, with five to his name.

Last week, Rohit also called time on his Test career. He will now focus solely on leading the national side in ODIs.